I’m Back!

I was going to have some kind of fanfare music playing in the background, but then thought it may be a little too much considering I have only been ‘away’ for two weeks. I’ve decided to go for a more subtle first-time-back post.

‘Away’ isn’t exactly true either. Yes, I’ve not posted anything for several days now, and I haven’t really commented on other blogs that I visit, but I have briefly kept myself up to date with things.

The notifications have changed, and I’m now being notified whenever a spam message is left for me, which is quite handy as all I need to do is go to my dashboard and delete them… although one day I had about thirty to delete. I’m not even going into what they were on about, they weren’t my regular sort of spam… not very user friendly! And one spammer actually managed to breach security and put a message in my moderation queue for one of my posts. That one was quickly flagged as spam and then deleted… although I received many more comments from this account over the days.

During my little away time, I went to Azerbaijan to watch the Eurovision Song Contest, which was very good once again, although the voting always makes me smile. And we in the United Kingdom came second. From last, second from last, but hey! I also went back in time and watched the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest, where only sixteen countries took part, the voting was completely different as to how it is nowadays, and the event had more of a gala feel to it. Bob and John Allison (I think they said) represented the UK back then, and they didn’t win either. The 1961 contest, the first ever to be performed on a Saturday night as it happens, was held in Cannes, and won by Luxembourg.

Another difference I noticed is that the contestants, dressed up to the nines in dinner wear, introduced themselves before the singing began. And going back to the voting, Luxembourg awarded the UK eight points, sending us into an early lead as they were the third country to announce their votes. The UK, incidentally, had been the second country to vote and hadn’t awarded Luxembourg any points… The voting was purely done by jury in those days, telephone voting hadn’t been thought up back then, and SMS voting wasn’t even a figment of anyone’s imagination. Each jury member could award one point to their favourite song, and there were ten members on the jury, so one country could have received all of the points if the jury voted that way… however, the results, as this way of voting, are now history.

Televoting was first introduced in the Eurovision in 1997, which, coincidentally, was the last year the UK won the contest. However, over time, and due to complaints from many participants of bloc-voting, the jury returned, meaning the votes are now split 50/50 between televotes and jury. Bloc-voting still exists, but it’s deemed more ‘acceptable’ this way.

So, there we have it… spam messages, European politics (I’m not at all politically political) and time travel make up my first-time-back post. I’ll be back with more random waffle soon!

For now…

I’m taking a break from blogging.

I’m ridiculously behind in my reading, and I’m feeling virtually zapped of any inspiration with my writing. Last night’s post, for example, was frantically written whilst listening to uplifting music… I couldn’t think what to write, so just wrote, and wrote what I wrote. I quite liked the end result, but couldn’t write like that every day!

When things become a struggle, they tend to become a chore. And I don’t really enjoy chores. I like to feel good, and I try to write in a way that hopefully gets that message across – most of the time anyway! I have the tendency to stop doing things that become a chore…

I don’t want to stop blogging, I love it too much. I love interacting with other bloggers throughout our great world. I love reading what everyone has to write, even if sometimes I don’t understand everything. I try to comment where I can, and if time is short, I’ll add a calling card in the form of a like. That’s not to say I click like on every post I read just because I’ve been there, because I only click like when I really like the post. Luckily, I really like lots of posts!

However, I really enjoy writing. I enjoy my daily trips to some random realm or other, and writing about what I see there. Yes, I know sometimes it’s like reading utter nonsense, but that’s what the other realms are for. For escape! This blog is a place of escape! Reality can be left in the real world, although sometimes reality filters through into this blog as well.

Reality has filtered through right now alright. My brain cell is exhausted by overuse and undertime. It gathered its thought and said “Woah! Take time out! There’s years ahead – not everything needs to be written right now!”

I stopped, listened to my brain cell, and thought it a very good idea. Take a rest.

So that’s what I’m doing.

I’ll be back from the First of June, so I’ve given myself two weeks to recharge my batteries and reinvigorate my brain cell – and maybe add another couple while I’m at it. The downside of this holiday, means I’ll be so out of touch with all blogs I follow I’ll probably never catch up, so I’ll start my blog reading afresh from the beginning of June as well. I’ll probably be on the blog a few days before then to dispose of the spam comments which seem to be coming in thicker and faster than ever before, so may start reading / posting earlier than planned at present – we’ll see.

Thanks to everyone who visits my blog, and reads, likes and/or leaves a comment – I really appreciate each and every one of you taking time out of your busy lives to call by my random corner of nonsense.

I’ll see you in two weeks! Feel good now! 

Hoof and Storm

Galloping along the beach on horseback
Waves crashing onto the shore
Seagulls shrieking overhead
Clouds rolling high above
Ferocious motion is all around

Leaves rustle as the wind rushes through the trees on the cliff top
Water droplets thump into the sand as the rain starts to fall
As the rain falls heavier from the thickening clouds
The skies darken, the horse gallops urgently faster
Lightning crackles above and strikes the ground behind
Trees crash, waves crash, thunder crashes
Our hearts beat faster as the momentum gathers pace

The need is to get to shelter
To get away from this now unwelcoming place

To be in the warmth and the dryness and by the fireplace
Home

The wind gathers speed, the horse leaps over a wooden beam
Holding on to the horse, helping to steer the steed
Wanting to get us both to safety

The sands are sodden, the hooves start to sink

The horse must jump with each and every step

Not long my friend, not long
I will my horse to keep going forward

More lightning

More rain

More thunder

More wind

More speed

The horse manages to find his footing and gracefully gallops again

Sunlight beams on our path ahead

No longer on the wet sands, we ride together… gentler… calmer

Still swiftly, for we both have the need to get
Home

Rider and horse both soaked to the skin
Steaming in the warmth of the now blazing sun

A few more strides up this little hill, and then we’re done

Over the hill, over the fence
Under the arched branch, and along the driveway

Stables first, dry, eat, drink, and rest

The journey is complete

Exercise finished

Both energised

Both happy

Both feeling good

Riding today was fun!

But getting home was better…!

Between the snowflakes

It’s been an odd day today, weather-wise.

I think I may have used that line once or twice before in a post or two… but I’m saying it again today!

It’s been a pretty non-descript day otherwise, but we can’t have too much going on in one day, can we? Or can we?

I mean to say, it is the middle of May. And, I know that we shouldn’t cast a clout until May’s out, but today I wouldn’t know whether to cast one or not.

It’s been snowing in Cheshire today.

It’s actually been everything, all at once, if I’m honest.

I was looking out of the window at work, and it took a while for me to realise that it actually was snowing. Thick snow at 10.30am on a Tuesday in May.

It soon changed to hail, and rain, and then brilliant, warm, sunshine. Strong winds, more hail, a little more snow, a little sleet, and then heavy rain. Blue skies dotted with grey clouds.

And white clouds.

Apart from the snow, it was the white clouds that fascinated me more.

The cloud formations to be exact. I saw a dolphin, a puppy trying to pick up a ball, an Angel with real flapping wings, several faces, and a traditional weather-forecasters cloud shape. All within a matter of minutes. The winds must have been very strong up in the cloud layer… which will probably explain the snow flurries.

I’m not on high ground, or in an exposed place. I’m in a valley that usually doesn’t get any kind of unusual weather… or bad weather for that matter.

Today we must have been catching up, we had it all. With icing on the top.

Through the Mists of Time

I travelled through the ether to a place in a different realm. Surrounded by a pulsating orange light which swirled around me I was taken to a room. A room with a large table at the far end. This was where I started my journey.

On the table was a large, leather-bound book. I touched the book, it was smooth and cool. The pages were very old, and uneven, but not at all tatty. There was a symbol on the cover of the book, circles and triangles overlapping… and something that I couldn’t make out. A rose? A key? And there was a image of the cross section of a tree, the growth rings, which was beside the rosekey design.

The book opened on its own accord, and the pages flicked back and forth before me.

They stopped, and the book lay open in front of me.

I couldn’t make out all of the words, but I tried to read as much as I could. I could see a few hazy letters, and a number. 1643. A name appeared. Helena. And a place, sadly forgotten as soon as I saw it.

The letters and numbers weren’t actually on the page, but floating just above it. When I looked at them, they faded. I had to really focus to see what I was seeing, and in the next instant the book was closed.

I found myself walking along a corridor which had various objects placed on either side. I saw a wartime fighter plane, and the thoughts of World War One came to mind, although the plane itself seemed more recent. There was some kind of ‘tube’ – a musical instrument or some kind of staff – I’m not sure. And there was a harp. There were other objects, but these, like the words on the page were hazy and faded away when I looked at them.

When I reached the door at the end of this corridor, which too opened on its own accord, I could see the orange glow of the ether bubble waiting for me. I stepped inside, and returned to the present.

It would seem that I am not yet ready to be shown the answers I seek in my quest surrounding the year 1642, so I will have to continue my search by other methods. Although, I wonder, who is Helena?

The Lesser Known Green-Toothed Twitcher

It is remarkable how, in this day and age, we (the human inhabitants of this wonderful planet, Earth) are still discovering brand new species all around the globe.

From the depths of the oceans to the furthest rainforests, animals, birds, and fish – big and small – are popping out from under their bushes and rocks so we can catch a glimpse of them. Some actually stay around long enough for us to capture them on film or mobile phone. Others, are being rediscovered… long-thought-extinct creatures and plant-life are turning up at the least expected time.

And whilst all these discoveries are being made on our world, I was fascinated to read recently that light had been detected by scientists for the first time on a nearby Super-Earth, a planet orbiting another star 41 Light Years away from us.

My mind ran away with the idea, and the light was coming from a window on the twenty-fifth floor of a skyscraper as someone had forgotten to close their curtains, on one of the continents on this newly discovered world, called, clinically, 55 Cancri e.

They say the planet is too hot for life, and the light detected was infra red light which dipped as the planet travelled behind its sun on its orbit.

Whilst I’m disappointed that my curtains theory was so wrong, and the infra red light discovery was more of a ‘normal’ scientific discovery (in my mind’s eye) rather than an impressive one, I’m not disheartened. There are other planets out there now that we know of, Super-Earths at that like 55 Cancri e, where someone WILL have left their curtains open. It will be all over the news, mark my words…

Anyway, coming back home for the moment, and looking at newly discovered species. I’d like to describe another new species I may have discovered this morning. Mid-morning to be exact, while I was sat at work.

Humanoid in shape, oblongular to be more precise, two arms, two legs and a head. Funny looking hair on top, with green teeth.

I thought that I had slept quite well last night. I was up early this morning, bright as a daisy, and was ready for work in no time. I’d eaten breakfast, drove to the shop and bought the daily newspaper, and then continued on to work, where I arrived at 8.05am. Bright and early.

As soon as I settled down to log into my computer, I brought the curser on my computer screen to the username box, and clicked the mouse button. The curser shot over to the right of the screen, completely missing anything that it could have clicked on. Three times it took me to get my username entered, but eventually I did.

Trying to open the applications was a bit difficult as well… the same thing happening. The curser was not where it should have been when I clicked.

I’d developed a twitch in my thumb. Every one, two or three seconds (it was very inconsistent) my thumb would spasm, and knock my mouse slightly, thus moving the curser on the screen. There wasn’t any pain, I must add… and once I knew why the curser was moving on its own accord I could feel the twitching all the more.

That realisation is probably what caused the worst ever realisation to dawn EVER to occur.

I was mentally trying to control my thumb, by staring at it, when my thoughts moved to the question of how I could have got to work so early. And then the question ‘did you clean your teeth?’ sprang to mind. I’m sure I had. I was positive I had. And then… I was less certain. More self conscious… more convinced that I had dashed out without doing what I do every morning.

I swept along my teeth with my tongue, and they felt clean, so I tried to convince myself that I had. But the doubt was now there. My mind was showing me images of green teeth when I smiled, so I had to look away from everyone today or smile with a closed mouth.

I have the feeling that I wasn’t human today in work at all. I was some kind of twitching green-toothed hybrid. Part human, part something unknown.

I managed to get through the day, even smiling properly on a few occasions (as I’d forgotten and then remembered!) but the first thing I did when I got home was brushed my teeth, and now I feel good again.

Or did I? Come to think of it I don’t actually remember… and I’ve never noticed these webbed fingers before… or these scales…

One Minute Ramble: Treasure!

Last night I dreamt of treasure.

Well, it was more coins than treasure to be exact, but the coins weren’t ordinary coins. Some were. I was picking fifty pences as someone would pick flowers. There were hundreds – thousands – of them all over the place.

Bright and shiny were the fifty pences.

Other coins weren’t as shiny, but they were there in abundance too.

Everywhere.

In flowerbeds. On lawns. Under chairs. At the side of the road…

I’ve had similar dreams like this before, and all of them have had the same feel good feel with them. The coins are unusually shaped, squares and triangles, as well as the usual round and rounded shapes. Some had odd colours, and some with holographic symbols on them. I was only interested in the shiny ones.

I wished I’d collected the square ones with the symbols, really to see what the symbols were. In my previous dreams, it was these that I collected, but couldn’t make out the symbols on them back then.

Other people were milling about, but they weren’t interested in any of the coins, whereas I was trying to collect as many of the fifty pences as I could. It was actually as though they couldn’t see them, nor me collecting. Very strange.

Does this mean I’m going to come into a secret fortune?

Or am I being perhaps a little too greedy?

Oh, if I’d have seen the symbols, I may have found the answer…